S05.E03: The Midges

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Philip and Elizabeth tell Paige more about the family business, but pressing new questions arise when an operation takes a ghastly and unexpected turn. Meanwhile, a sensitive package jeopardizes Oleg's life back home.

Promo:

[Bannon]

Good grief, I hope they don't have E & P stupidly kill someone who is working to produce pest resistant grain, because E &;P are suddenly too damned dumb to realize that the U.S. Government would not develop agriweapons, for the purpose of attacking the Soviet Union, in an unguarded greenhouse on an Illinois farm, secured by a lock fit to protect a 6th grader's 10-speed. Ugh and Egads.

Of course, it's just as dumb if they actually have the U.S. government doing exactly that.

[henripootel]

10 hours ago, Bannon said:

Of course, it's just as dumb if they actually have the U.S. government doing exactly that.

Well, I guarantee the US government did research such things, always under the aegis of 'only doing this to be ready when the other side does this'.  And as for leaving things unprotected, there are such cases in the real world and this fictional one.  For example, I can't imagine the CBRN guys in a million years burying William's lassa-soaked corpse in a field somewhere.  If they wanted to keep it around for some reason, it'd be in a hugely-guarded and locked vault but vastly more likely, they'd incinerate it.

It'll be a shame if E&P decide that they've uncovered a secret plot to poison Russia-bound grain.  Over-reacting is not like them, and even if the Center (and Gabriel) find this plausible, I'd hope cooler heads would prevail.  

[Bannon]

21 minutes ago, henripootel said:

Well, I guarantee the US government did research such things, always under the aegis of 'only doing this to be ready when the other side does this'.  And as for leaving things unprotected, there are such cases in the real world and this fictional one.  For example, I can't imagine the CBRN guys in a million years burying William's lassa-soaked corpse in a field somewhere.  If they wanted to keep it around for some reason, it'd be in a hugely-guarded and locked vault but vastly more likely, they'd incinerate it.

It'll be a shame if E&P decide that they've uncovered a secret plot to poison Russia-bound grain.  Over-reacting is not like them, and even if the Center (and Gabriel) find this plausible, I'd hope cooler heads would prevail.  

 

 

Of course the U.S. government pursued such things. No, they did not do weapons development in unguarded Illinois greenhouses, and the disposal of the lassa corpse was pretty stupid writing. Tighten it up, writers!

[Sarah 103]

1 hour ago, henripootel said:

Over-reacting is not like them, and even if the Center (and Gabriel) find this plausible, I'd hope cooler heads would prevail.  

Elizabeth tends to overact, but Philip is a calming more level headed incident. After Regean was shot, Elizabeth was sure it was a coup of some kind, while Philip took a more wait and see approach. He also suspected it was more a lone gunman/nutcase scenario (although it's been awhile since I watched the episode). 

[sistermagpie]

13 hours ago, Bannon said:

 

Good grief, I hope they don't have E & P stupidly kill someone who is working to produce pest resistant grain,

 

At this point they really can't refer to murder as something taking an "unexpected turn." It's more like "they have to kill somebody...as per usze..." (Not sure to spell that last word, but it's the first syllable of usually.)

[kokapetl]

Could the United States even get away with selling shoddy grain to the Soviet Union? I don't know much about grain, milling, or Soviet agricultural or customs agencies, but would be inedible or diseased grain even make it off the ship? Plus American grain growers wanted to sell to the Soviet Union.

Speaking of food, there's no way that "Dee Eckert" could believably claim to eat at Bennigan's once a week. 

Edited March 21, 2017 by Kokapetl

[Umbelina]

I can easily believe the USSR might think the USA would do such a thing, actually I can pretty easily believe Reagan would have done that, but the story (so far) hasn't said it's happening, just that Center wants them to investigate it.  Hell, if you look at what Monsanto is trying to do world wide today, it's not much different, make it so everyone has to buy their seed from them, ruin other seeds.  /today's world talk

I'm willing to go along with that, quite easily actually.  We'll see what happens.  I'm looking forward to some answers tonight.

[sistermagpie]

2 hours ago, Umbelina said:

I can easily believe the USSR might think the USA would do such a thing, actually I can pretty easily believe Reagan would have done that, but the story (so far) hasn't said it's happening, just that Center wants them to investigate it.  Hell, if you look at what Monsanto is trying to do world wide today, it's not much different, make it so everyone has to buy their seed from them, ruin other seeds.  /today's world talk

Also, didn't the Soviet's own government wind up starving them? I can imagine that the idea is that famine is just always a very real thing in their minds, both from without and within.

[crgirl412]

MARTHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chaos Theory]

And the entire internet screams a single word "Martha."

Cowboy  P&E were kinda sexy plus I loved that country song.

Paige getting more involved in P&E's works is interesting but troublesome.  When did "Us" become "Them"?

Wheat eater bug.

[AimingforYoko]

33 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

MARTHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not gonna lie, this was my exact reaction.

[Umbelina]

So much goodness!

Philip having doubts and raising good questions again.  I love the Russian family telling them how it really is back "home."  Loved the cowboy hat when either of them wore it, but Philip needs to man up a bit, recognize the truth, instead of being a lovesick puppy on Elizabeth's leash.  It's time.  He knows and he feels that what they are doing is fucked up, but all Elizabeth has to do is pull out the sexy and he keeps going?

I love the signals they used before cell phones.  It really pissed me off when they killed Randy.  He's just some random scientist doing his job.  Did I miss it?  Was there ANY proof the bugs were destined to ruin Russian wheat?  Wasn't there a chance they were working on ways to eradicate them for Australia? 

Martha!  More please, but that was nice of the writers, they know we miss her.  I just hope they know that it would be incredibly interesting watching her trying to live in that system.

Oleg!  A bit shallow there, because I love just watching that man walk.  Aside from that, this is another story that interests me.  I feel so bad for him, guy did the right thing, and now he's screwed no matter what.  Run Oleg, tell mom and dad to go "on vacation" then meet them somewhere and start a new life, at least by the end of the show.  I have no problem watching him be tortured for a while, it's a bit like the evil queen when she had the Prince chained up, which was a strangely erotic image in my childhood record album.  I want Oleg to escape those chain though.

 

 

It had the old style tension with the scenes with poor Misha too.  I was so worried about who would walk in that door, and so worried when the 2nd dude grabbed his backpack.  The Misha store is coming along nicely, the actor is nailing it.

Paige continues to bore me silly, which is the only downside.

Nice job connecting the Russian family to the wheat story.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Umbelina

[Christina]

I realize that this is an unpopular opinion and probably better suited for that forum, but my fears that the actress would not be able to pull of Paige's storyline have borne true to me. 

We probably all agree that Matthew Henry has figured it all out and is now telling the FBI everything his family is up to on a daily basis, and that's why he is never on the show.

ETA: Henry has been absent so long, I forgot his name and renamed him Matthew. sigh

Edited March 22, 2017 by Christina
Added paragraph

[Shriekingeel]

This is by far the most ridiculous season of this increasingly silly show. The idea that Americans would hire a *Soviet* agronomist--the Soviets being the people who caused the worst ecological disaster in history, the destruction of the Aral Sea, while trying to grow cotton--to oversee a critical program is beyond belief. 

At this point P & E are essentially Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers. Really, they ought to be fed alive to crocodiles. 

[Primetimer]

'SOONER.' (They go to Oklahoma.)

View the full article

[SailorGirl]

4 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Not gonna lie, this was my exact reaction.

+1 . . .

The song "More than This" takes me back to my HS/post-HS days more than just about any other song -- going out in Georgetown in the late 80s . . .sigh . . . I still love that song. I feel like the past two episodes have dragged (except for the Martha sighting tonight!), and I really don't care about the adult son. 

And as someone with a herniated disc in my back . . . I cringed at the lab murder.  . . OW! 

[Tetraneutron]

I think you mean HENRY is never on the show. I think Holly Taylor is doing a good job but her storyline isn't glamorous or exciting. 

If there's one complaint I have about the show it's the Russians are too free with the murder. It's not a moral thing. In the real world if you kill/disappear middle-class white, educated, connected Americans, the authorities will notice and the whole point is they aren't supposed to notice you. So the lab tech plus Betty, plus Larrick, plus Annelise, plus Amidor, plus of course Martha, it's too much.

 Also, I was wondering when the show would get to why the USSR can't make their own grain even though the Ukraine was the breadbasket of the region. I thought it would be Paige to bring it up, though, not Philip. 

[AimingforYoko]

3 minutes ago, SailorGirl said:

The song "More than This" takes me back to my HS/post-HS days more than just about any other song

Not to get too personal, first time I reached second base this song was playing.

[benteen]

Martha!  I usually watch my shows quietly but I let out a "Oh!" when I saw that.  What a great job with that reveal, which came as a legit surprise.

Very good episode once again.  Interesting how this mission is making Philip and telling Paige was interesting, albeit something that will no doubt backfire.

I liked seeing a cassette tape.  What season was that conversation from?  Season 2?

Edited March 22, 2017 by benteen

[SailorGirl]

1 minute ago, AimingforYoko said:

Not to get too personal, first time I reached second base this song was playing.

Just because . . . 
 

[Umbelina]

I forgot to mention Tuan.  We still don't know exactly what his deal is, but he does hold my interest when he's on screen, and he has a unique perspective, which has always felt valid to me.  I perfectly understand his motivations.

Anyone here not scream "MARTHA!" when we got that little clip?

[gwhh]

Did anyone else laugh when they saw E & P in the cowboys and country music outfit laugh out loud??

You think they let Martha shop at the Soviet Union elite special shops?  You know the one for the party elite.   Hope she got a nice place.  It can't be any worst that her awful single woman place in DC. 

Tuan founds out mischa here. He goes all commie super patriot to turn him in. Phillip gives him promation to field fertilize unit. 

Edited March 22, 2017 by gwhh

[Tetraneutron]

1 minute ago, benteen said:

Martha!  I usually watch my shows quietly but I let out a "Oh!" when I saw that.  What a great job with that reveal, which came as a legit surprise.

Very good episode once again.  Interesting how this mission is making Philip and telling Paige was interesting, albeit something that will no doubt backfire.

I liked seeing a cassette tape.  What season was that conversation from?  Season 2?

Yes, with Zinaida the fake defector. I think I'm the only person not interested in Martha. Her story is over. She's alone and miserable in Russia. The life Gregory would rather kill himself than have. It's not showing us anything new. 

[Umbelina]

1 minute ago, gwhh said:

Did anyone else laugh when they saw E & P in the cowboys and country music outfit laugh out loud??

You think they let Martha shop at the Soviet Union elite special shops?  You know the one for the party elite.   Hope she got a nice place.  It can't be any worst that her awful single woman place in DC. 

Yes.  It can, and probably is.

[crgirl412]

4 minutes ago, benteen said:

Martha!  I usually watch my shows quietly but I let out a "Oh!" when I saw that.  What a great job with that reveal, which came as a legit surprise.

Very good episode once again.  Interesting how this mission is making Philip and telling Paige was interesting, albeit something that will no doubt backfire.

I liked seeing a cassette tape.  What season was that conversation from?  Season 2?

Me too!!  I even said "MARTHA!"  I screamed at Paranormal Witness last night too!  Maybe I'm not watching my shows quietly anymore!! 

Was Stan wearing a wire to get their voices on tape??

[TaurusRose]

Watching episode now and I just have to say Paige has the worst wallpaper ever.  Are they trying to make her crazy?

[SailorGirl]

20 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Oleg!  A bit shallow there, because I love just watching that man walk.  Aside from that, this is another story that interests me.  I feel so bad for him, guy did the right thing, and now he's screwed no matter what.  

Second this. Doing the rewatch, and as we watch him walk oh-so-finely into the grocery store, Martha is in the background in one of the aisles. Never would have known it the first go-round, which was clearly the point. I do like the little fan wink we got with the Martha appearance, and the "Henry's not here" throwaway lines. . . 

Edited March 22, 2017 by SailorGirl

[shura]

3 minutes ago, Tetraneutron said:

I think Holly Taylor is doing a good job but her storyline isn't glamorous or exciting.

Honestly, she doesn't look to me any more distressed than she has always been. I don't know what Stan and Matthew are noticing there that is out of her ordinary.

I'm also not sure why Gabriel is not very confident as to what the bugs are for. I just have to assume the bugs are to be used to attack the Soviet crops, not just eat the grain shipment they are coming in from the US. What would be the point of the latter? Especially since it could be achieved without resorting to illegal biological warfare.

Cool assignment for Stan and Aderholt - follow dudes into bathrooms and hold the door for them when they leave.

Other than that, I was a little bored.

[crgirl412]

I never thought that I would hear country music on this show! 

Philip and Paige at least have critical thinking skills whereas Elizabeth as has blinding, dogmatic loyalty that leaves her at a deficit in the long run.  

I got an odd vibe from Tuan when he said the US would destroy the USSR then he quickly backtracked and fixed it.  Elizabeth gave him the same side eye.  Hmmmmmm........... 

[Tetraneutron]

Does anyone else expect (no spoilers, just a theory) that this grain sabotage plotline will be the first where the Soviets are completely in the wrong? P and E do everything the do, get Paige involved, and it turns out it was all for nothing? In the real world, there was no US plot to contaminate grain, as far as I know. 

[Milburn Stone]

23 minutes ago, Christina said:

We probably all agree that Henry has figured it all out and is now telling the FBI everything his family is up to on a daily basis, and that's why he is never on the show.

I had a crazy thought when Paige was grilling Elizabeth for the details of the operation against the defector. What if she was so inquisitive because...she's feeding that information to Stan? 

[sistermagpie]

12 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Paige continues to bore me silly, which is the only downside.

I had to laugh about her in this ep  because I'm reading a murder mystery that takes place at a girls' school so there's all this focus on how teenage girls lie and manipulate. Except Paige Jennings who still thinks it's gross to not tell her boyfriend the information that will destroy her life, and needs to resort to finger-rubbing just because the kid asked what was bothering her. Because it's always so obvious something is bothering her. It's just so funny because so many teenagers (including me when I was one) lie all the time--even to boys they like. Maybe Paige needs to go undercover as a popular girl and learn from that snake pit?

Meanwhile Henry doesn't even have to lie, but if he needs to he's good at it.

This all makes Tuan interesting as a parallel--and I like the way he seems specifically paralleled to Philip so far. That is, he really does seem to relate to him, he talked about going hungry with him--it gave him a flashback (was that a communal room? Were those people his parents? Was the other kid related to him? Presumably he was the little kid we first saw since that was I assume his father before he died? That flashback gave me the same burst of joy most people got from seeing Martha, I think). And Philip noting that Tuan had "great instincts" seemed intentionally paralleled with him saying that Paige couldn't handle any of it and deciding to intentionally manipulate her to get the results he wanted instead of being honest with her, telling her about the wheat to get her focused on "more important things". Interesting that Matthew said there was nothing they could do to change the world, since Paige spent like a year being focused on that and is still supposed to be into it. Yet she didn't have anything to say at all about her activism. It kind of shows how maybe Matthew isn't all that perfect for Paige.

Oleg is great. Poor guy never realized one day he would be Nina. That's a guy who's really in trouble.

So Elizabeth and Philip ought to just start carrying around a suitcase if every job they do ends up in a fresh body. What exactly would they have reported if that guy hadn't shown up? Just say that yes, the lab that studies insects has lots of bugs? I was laughing when they were looking at all the tanks because...you guys don't know anything about bug!

Also, glad Philip made the connection and asked why the USSR isn't growing its own grain. He allowed himself to be distracted by Elizabeth but he seemed to just choose to put it aside since there was no answer at the moment. They know when the other one is distracting them with sex.

I feel like Philip's gonna get a call from the cops about Henry one of these days and then we'll find out what he's been doing. There's a reason he's now not around where he used to be up in his room/in the driveway/listening to his walkman.

5 minutes ago, shura said:

Honestly, she doesn't look to me any more distressed than she has always been. I don't know what Stan and Matthew are noticing there that is out of her ordinary.

LOL! I know. I think we're supposed to assume Paige is emoting differently from the actress who's been making that tragic expression since S1.

3 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

I never thought that I would hear country music on this show! 

They've played country music before--remember, Philip is a fan. (I like the suggestion that he basically is from the country.)

Oh, Aderholdt was a joy in the diner scene. He's racking up the hilarious lines. to "Do you want a Coke?" we add "What? He didn't touch it."

[JennyMominFL]

16 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

I forgot to mention Tuan.  We still don't know exactly what his deal is, but he does hold my interest when he's on screen, and he has a unique perspective, which has always felt valid to me.  I perfectly understand his motivations.

Anyone here not scream "MARTHA!" when we got that little clip?

I thought I saw Martha outside on a bench before Oleg went into the store.I wonder if it was her?

[crgirl412]

Just now, Tetraneutron said:

Does anyone else expect (no spoilers, just a theory) that this grain sabotage plotline will be the first where the Soviets are completely in the wrong? P and E do everything the do, get Paige involved, and it turns out it was all for nothing? In the real world, there was no US plot to contaminate grain, as far as I know. 

In one of the promos (not spoiling) E tells P they were wrong.  I am assuming it is about the pests. 

[sistermagpie]

4 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

I had a crazy thought when Paige was grilling Elizabeth for the details of the operation against the defector. What if she was so inquisitive because...she's feeding that information to Stan? 

If Stan knew they were KGB he would arrest them. You don't just watch as these two murder people. Also she didn't grill them for info. They gave her the info. She only asked them about the danger--how does she know those people won't lie or come after them?

3 minutes ago, crgirl412 said:

In one of the promos (not spoiling) E tells P they were wrong.  I am assuming it is about the pests. 

Could be about telling Paige, or really anything. They always take stuff out of context in those things.

[Umbelina]

4 minutes ago, Tetraneutron said:

Does anyone else expect (no spoilers, just a theory) that this grain sabotage plotline will be the first where the Soviets are completely in the wrong? P and E do everything the do, get Paige involved, and it turns out it was all for nothing? In the real world, there was no US plot to contaminate grain, as far as I know. 

I've thought that from the beginning, mostly because of Google.  IIRC we were doing research on midges since they are devastating to wheat.  It just makes far more sense to me that we'd be trying to find ways to eradicate them than to export them.  Also?  I kind of think that operation would have been exposed by now.

We kind of know the problems with state controlled Russian farming anyway, or at least, from some past study I feel like I do. 

[crgirl412]

3 minutes ago, JennyMominFL said:

I thought I saw Martha outside on a bench before Oleg went into the store.I wonder if it was her?

I thought that the woman sitting on the bench reading a newspaper was her at first but in the store she had on a scarf.  Maybe they were really teasing us!   

[JennyMominFL]

Just now, crgirl412 said:

I thought that the woman sitting on the bench reading a newspaper was her at first but in the store she had on a scarf.  Maybe they were really teasing us!   

yes! Her. And yeah,I think they were messing with us. For 3 weeks I have been looking at every woman in Moscow to see if she's Martha

[Milburn Stone]

2 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

If Stan knew they were KGB he would arrest them. You don't just watch as these two murder people. Also she didn't grill them for info. They gave her the info.

Aha. That's how she made it look.

[crgirl412]

3 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

If Stan knew they were KGB he would arrest them. You don't just watch as these two murder people. Also she didn't grill them for info. They gave her the info. She only asked them about the danger--how does she know those people won't lie or come after them?

Could be about telling Paige, or really anything. They always take stuff out of context in those things.

True.  I am assuming and they do run the promos that way to keep us off balance. 

[Auntie Anxiety]

1 hour ago, crgirl412 said:

MARTHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was more surprised than most because I just finished watching "Sneaky Pete" last night in which Alison Wright plays a pivotal role. I was so pleased to see her again tonight.p

The female food store manager looked familiar. Was she Tony Sopranos Russian (one legged) girlfriend?

Edited March 22, 2017 by Auntie Anxiety

[crgirl412]

Good night, y'all. 

I have to get up at 4:15 to go be an RN which is not nearly as fun as talking to all of you!      

[gwhh]

What was the name of the song on the radio in the motel room? 

[Irlandesa]

46 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

And the entire internet screams a single word "Martha."

I did.  And then I felt guilty because it should have been two words--"Poor Martha."

In the bowling alley scene, all I could think of is how exhausting it must be for P&E to pretend they don't understand Russian.  I speak a few other languages, although none as well as P&E have adopted English, and after being in a foreign country after a while, if I was given information while I was distracted, I sometimes wouldn't know what language it was given to me in.

Matthew is a nice boyfriend.  Maybe he'll figure it all out.

I still find these episodes interesting but I haven't quite figured out what the main plot of this season is going to be.  Grain?  Maybe this season should have been its last because I do feel that the show lost quite a bit of tension with Martha gone.  We know it'll probably be a while until Stan figures out about P&E but we didn't have that certainty when Martha was in the picture.  Would he find out about her?  Would she go to jail?  Would she go to Russia?  Would P&E try to kill her? Stan will present that tension again too but we aren't there yet.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Irlandesa

[Moose135]

It was a quick shot and you almost missed it, but in the bowling alley scene, Tuan was wearing an Opus "Penguin Lust" T-shirt from the Bloom County comic strip - I have that same shirt somewhere around here.  I got it new in 1984, so it certainly fit the timeline of the show.  As much as people enjoyed seeing Martha, Opus was the high point of the show for me!

Edited March 22, 2017 by Moose135

[Dev F]

23 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Loved the cowboy hat when either of them wore it, but Philip needs to man up a bit, recognize the truth, instead of being a lovesick puppy on Elizabeth's leash.  It's time.  He knows and he feels that what they are doing is fucked up, but all Elizabeth has to do is pull out the sexy and he keeps going?

It's interesting, because for me seeing him in the cowboy hat again actually crystallized his character arc in a significant way. If I remember correctly, the last time he used a cowboy disguise was in the first episode of season 1, when he guns down those two Afghanis in the restaurant. At the time, that scene seemed really strange to me -- the Afghanis brag about murdering Russian soldiers, and Philip seems to have a really personal reaction, breaking cover and shooting them in a rage. And then, years later, the producers mentioned something that made it click for me: they pointed out that Irina had told Philip that their son was a soldier, so he must've suspected that he was in Afghanistan even before Gabriel confirmed it. So the scene was personal for him, because he was imagining that the mujahideen were bragging about murdering his flesh and blood.

Seeing the cowboy hat again this episode made me realize, it wasn't just about Philip becoming more anti-American because Elizabeth is. He dropped the American cowboy act because he was afraid for his son, even before he was sure he existed. And I wonder if him donning the hat again this episode is meant to suggest that he's entertaining more pro-American sentiment again now that he believes his son is safe. He certainly seemed more willing than Elizabeth to entertain the idea that the Soviets rather than the Americans were responsible for his people's privation.

19 minutes ago, Shriekingeel said:

This is by far the most ridiculous season of this increasingly silly show. The idea that Americans would hire a *Soviet* agronomist--the Soviets being the people who caused the worst ecological disaster in history, the destruction of the Aral Sea, while trying to grow cotton--to oversee a critical program is beyond belief. 

There's no indication that he's overseeing the program, is there? The Center probably suspects that he's being pumped for information about Soviet grain distribution practices to facilitate acts of sabotage. But surely they don't think he's masterminding said acts.

23 minutes ago, SailorGirl said:

Doing the rewatch, and as we watch him walk oh-so-finely into the grocery store, Martha is in the background in one of the aisles. Never would have known it the first go-round, which was clearly the point.

I actually thought it was her in the background during my first viewing, so I was waiting for the big reveal. Didn't make it any less exciting to see her.

[ptuscadero]

47 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Not gonna lie, this was my exact reaction.

Mine, too. I actually said to one of my cats before the show started, "They better be telling us something about Martha tonight." So he was very smug when I yelled out "Martha!!" at the TV.

[Umbelina]

Second watching.

I really feel like Elizabeth was 'working' Philip sexually in the cowboy hat scene, or at least she may be.

I would love it if this show ends up being, not some stupid Paige-ending because she exposes them, but comes right back down to the marriage.  It's pretty obvious Philip, in spite of some reservations, would be done with this KGB gig if not for his love of Elizabeth.  At what point to you choose what your gut tells you over your marriage, or your true love?  I do believe Philip loves her, and I also believe the only reason he's still doing this is because of that love.  What about his kids though, and his love for them?  What about his soul, which is taking a beating for something he usually no longer believes in?

Did he really hate that scientist for not knowing who he worked for, or was that just Philip convincing himself once again?  I mean, logically, most scientists don't know why they are doing some things, it's parsed out, they may know their parts of it.  Anyway, if, and I  think it will, this turns out to be something simple and "good" like trying to figure out how to stop midges from destroying wheat, I think Philip is going to feel even more guilt than he already does.  Add that to the pointlessness of it all (ala William) and will loving Elizabeth really be enough for him to continue?

I kind of hope not.

[willco]

Well, that seals it. Elizabeth is a sociopath or at least has the tendencies. I think it's a common opinion that she is more cold blooded than Phillip, so it's not that suprising. I say this because on one episode of Criminal Minds, they noted that a guy's girlfriend, every time he questioned their killing spree, she took his mind off those concerns by using sex to distract him. Which is kind of what Elizabeth did to Phillip. See, I get all of my psychological training from tv shows.

 

I've often wondered why Elizabeth fights so hard to defend Russia. I know that's her home country and all, but is it so terrible here in the U.S. ? Life is pretty nice compared to what she grew up with. Maybe they explained this sometime in the past, but I don't remember.